Well I'd have danced like the queen of the eyesores...

Garden State soundtrack. Mmmm.....

This week has been really good to me. Plenty of sleep. Several cups of coffee with good friends. No research paper hanging over my head. Reconciliation around the bend. Friends coming in this weekend. And, today...I actually received mail, real mail with photographs in it of Marjorie and me. Great day, terrific week!!!

Yesterday I presented my autobiography-- "Standing with my back to darkness"-- to my American Autobiography class. All went well. I did the three different perspectives (therapist, thoughts, voice) and I followed my friend Cara's advice and put on glasses as I read the therapist's lines. It was highly effective. It reminded me of the episode of "Friends" where Joey is going to marry Chandler and Monica and he says he is going to where multi-colored robes and he asks if he can "warm up the audience" because he says, "When you hire Joey you get a minister and an entertainer...you get a ministainer!" I told the people in my class that you not only get a writer but an entertainer, you get a writertainer. People laughed. They don't know I stole it. I will never tell them, so you shouldn't either. Only downside of the presenting experience was that I made my professor cry. I felt like the worst person on the face of the planet. I made Dr. Thompson (my mentor and the professor I admire most) cry. Man, I felt absolutely horrible. I guess when you talk (or in my case, write) about cancer, it touches many people, especially if they have experienced cancer's devastating effects within their family or circle of friends. Well, she has experienced it and at the end of my reading she had to get up and leave. I wasn't sure what to do. I was going to tell you that she never came back and we silently retreated to our cars without speaking, because that would be dramatic and unbelievable. Well, she did come back and we continued class, but we never talked about it. I want to write something that means something to the people reading it, and I want what I write to make a difference and move people, but not if it effects my grade. Just kidding. I felt very privileged to have people listen to it and to get feedback; it was a great feeling.

Side note: I can't really express how excited I am about seeing Bridget Jones Diary 2!!! Is anyone else as excited as I am? There are so many good movies coming out. Which one should I see next?

Okay, with my autobiography over now it's time to get caught up on the insane amount of reading I have. This weekend, Becky in graduate admissions called me to see if I was interested in a small job. I went to talk to her and this "job" is reading a 130 page thesis for $75. With everything else going on I really wanted to say no, but she has no one else and so I took the job. The thesis is about Charles I and Colonialism (yawn). I am trying to keep myself on track, 25 pages a night. We shall see. I am trying to figure out if it's worth it or not, and if I should ever do it again. I wish it was a creative thesis and not a history thesis; I could dig reading someone's creative thesis.

Well, this weekend will be filled with seeing Danielle's play. Hanging out with Kris and Kimmy and Emily who are all coming in town! Maybe grabbing coffee with Cara, who I have not seen in a while. Somehow finding time to work on my Methods projects and reading a gazillion pages. I am at the point where you are not exactly sure where to start. I believe I will start by putting off my Unit Plan for Content Area Literacy and adding some photos to my blog. Hopefully they will appear. I hate this photo program. We will have to wait and see. Until then...